Important Feature
Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, to people of good will. We praise You, we bless You, we worship You, we glorify You, we give You thanks for Your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, Almighty God and Father; Lord Jesus Christ, only-Begotten Son of the Father: and You, O Holy Spirit. Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father: You take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Palm Sunday 2009
Homily of His Eminence, Archbishop Stephen
For Sunday, March 30/April 15, 2009
Palm Sunday
The Triumphant Entry of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ into Jerusalem
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
With last evening’s vigil, we began the most holy and solemn period of the Church’s liturgical year. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the final leg of our journey to Calvary and the empty tomb.
As we hear the events of the day related to us in today’s Gospel reading, I think it’s not too hard for us to be able to relate to the feelings of anticipation, excitement and even anxiety that surrounded Our Lord’s triumphal entrance into the holy city of Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago.
Here they are, lining the streets, some leading the way, and some bringing up the rear, everyone excited about this man, Jesus. The hopes and dreams and possibilities they are imagining are contagious: you can see it in the way they are waving the leafy branches and palms. You can hear it in the way they are shouting out: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” You can see the joy and optimism in their faces as they are beginning to think that perhaps, liberation has finally come – and come in the form of this rabbi from Nazareth.
While the donkey, cloaks and the palm branches make this a royal procession, the cheers of the people are even more significant.
Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
The word "Hosanna" is a Latinized transliteration of a Hebrew phrase that means "please save!" or "help!" It occurs in Psalm 118:25, just before the other phrase used here, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Both of these quotations were used in the liturgy of the Jewish feast of tabernacles, when the people would commonly wave branches in the air and pray for God's help.
"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" was a popular greeting shared between pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the festival. Here it is adapted to pronounce a blessing on the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
Matthew (Matthew 21:5) and John (John 12:15) remember that Zechariah (Zachariah 9:9) had prophesied something very much like this: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you; righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey”.
Sure we’re living about 2000 years after this event took place, but these kinds of scenes still occur today. Think back with me to January 20th of this year. I’m sure most of you can remember where you were and what you were doing when Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. It was the highest attended inauguration ever, with estimates between 1.1 – 1.8 million people. Over a million people – lining the streets – waving their American flags and signs that read: CHANGE.
I know there were some from our church who were at the inauguration, and I also had some friends who were there. I followed their updates on Facebook and Twitter and it was clear there was an overwhelming sense of hope, optimism and a desire to see change happen…CHANGE that was the key theme in Obama’s campaign. Following the inauguration, Obama and his family took part in the inaugural parade, where they road in the Presidential limousine for awhile…but eventually got out and walked the parade route. And here they were again, lining the streets, some leading the way, and some bringing up the rear, everyone excited about this man, Barack Obama.
Now, I’m not saying that Barack Obama is Jesus – although we certainly saw many placing almost a Messianic hope and trust in him and what they thought his Administration would be able to do…but I think picturing this parallel helps us connect with the crowds that day – and helps us realize the sheer excitement they must have been feeling as they watched Jesus come into Jerusalem that day.
Today’s story is one which many of us are familiar with – the donkey, the palm branches…Jesus entering Jerusalem…the joyful celebration. When I used to hear the story before, I always thought about the donkey for some reason. There are a few stories in the Bible that talk about donkeys – probably the most famous was Balaam’s talking donkey.
I always thought Jesus chose a donkey so that He would appear peaceful, almost meek and mild, as He entered into Jerusalem. But if you read a few verses past where our story stops today, you will find that Mark placed the story of the clearing or cleansing of the temple on the very next day. If you recall in the story, Jesus drove people out of the temple, overturned the tables of the moneychangers and generally made a big mess of the place. So, while Jesus certainly is known for being a peacemaker, it’s hard to think of Him as very “meek and mild” in that story.
This week as I was looking over the lesson for the Lenten class I lead and I read something that offered a different perspective on why a donkey was chosen. Michael Lindvall, A Presbyterian minister from New York City by the name of Michael Lindvall wrote a story about the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem and says that the donkey, palm branches and the whole entrance into the city was Jesus’ way of engaging in a form of political street theater.
All around the world, people use street theater as a way to subvert the status quo. You may have seen demonstrations or some other types of creative street performances that had a political message they were trying to get across. These types of performances are not all subversive simply for the sake of rousing up trouble. On the contrary, they can be done to be prophetic, to present an alternative reality to the way things are.
On the day Jesus was preparing to enter the city, throngs of people were waiting and milling about. They heard word of this amazing teacher, this powerful man coming to the city, and it’s easy to understand why they might have been so filled with hopes and desires. It’s easy to understand why they wanted liberation from the oppression of their Roman rulers. It’s easy to understand why they were hoping for the coming of the Messiah, a military King who would ride into town on a stallion prepared for battle. They expected him to be a true, mighty King who would bring soldiers with him, someone who would be prepared and able to defeat the despised Romans; a powerful king who would finally take his rightful throne as the King of the Jews.
Instead of satisfying those desires, Jesus engages in His own act of subversion. He participates in this form of street theater as He enters the city. Rev. Lindvall writes: “The Palm Sunday reality was a living parody on that dream. There was no stallion for this Messiah, just a donkey on loan. There was no army for this Messiah, just a rag-tag assortment of unemployed fisherman, an errant tax-collector, and some vaguely disreputable women. And this Messiah was no vanquisher of Romans; he was just a Galilean rabbi.”
Through this act of subversion, this humble entrance into the city, Jesus alerts the Jewish people that He is not going to be the type of Messiah they are looking for. While He is bringing liberation, it’s not the political liberation they are hoping for. As they were laying down their palms and their cloaks before Jesus, they would also have to lay down their ideas of who Jesus was and what His purpose was in their lives.
And, we are still called to do that today. It’s no secret that Christians disagree and fight among themselves. We all have different ideas of who this person Jesus was and is, and what it is that He cares about. It is extremely easy for us to become sidetracked by our own ideas of God. It is scary how easy it is for us to allow our vision of God to become so narrow that we don’t allow ourselves to realize that God is so much bigger and much grander than we could ever imagine.
Some of us may find ourselves in the crowd today – yelling and cheering and waving our palm branches as Jesus the Christ enters into Jerusalem. We may be so excited that the moment of liberation has finally come! And yet, when the donkey approaches, our grasp tightens around our cloaks, and we don’t want to let go. We don’t want to lay our cloaks down before Jesus.
Yet, that is what we are called to do. Just like the Jewish people in our Gospel reading today, we must lay down our cloaks before Jesus, lay down our ideas, and thoughts, and understandings of Jesus. We need to lay down OUR perceptions of how Jesus is going to bring about liberation, and simply be open to the movements of the Spirit.
Palm Sunday, and certainly the rest of the events we will remember this week, point to liberation. Probably not liberation as we have perceived it – probably not as we have planned it all out in our minds. But that is why we must lay our perceptions down before Jesus and allow Him to subvert them to His purpose. We must set aside our assumptions, our hopes, our plans for change, and give ourselves space…space to see the Messiah in our midst.
Hopefully when we do that – when we lay down our cloaks – we will be able to see a glimpse of that promised liberation that Christ brings. I don’t know exactly what that liberation looks like, and I’m not sure it looks the same for every person. But I think it has to have something to do with the freedom to truly live.
Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” We have a long journey ahead of us before we arrive at the joy of Easter morning, but when we get there, it will be a celebration about life.
The problem with Palm Sunday is that the excitement of that crowd who gathered some 2,000 years ago to greet a king soon faded, and when Good Friday rolled around, many of the same voices who shouted "Hosanna!" were also shouting "Crucify Him!" Their love for the Lord was shallow and based entirely on their hope of what exciting things He could do for them.
Too many pilgrims would get in behind Jesus on the road to the throne, but they would not follow him on the way to the cross. They would wave palms before the coming king, but they would not obey the Suffering Servant. Are we also so shallow that we will wave palms on one Sunday a year, and sing occasional hymns of praise, but refuse to obey the Servant King?
This day in Jesus' life was significant in many ways. Jesus knew that the end of His earthly ministry was near. It was time to do what He had come to accomplish. It was now or never. This was Jesus' opportunity to be obedient to the will of God, and to accomplish the purpose set out for Him. It is a day in history that speaks to Christians of every age.
I think the questions for us this morning are these: What’s stopping us from laying down our cloaks before Jesus? Why are we holding on so tight? Would it really be so bad if we let go? Would it really be so bad if we trusted God more than we trusted ourselves? I think if we are able to do that – we will be one step closer to experiencing the liberation that will bring us restoration and new life.
Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly. By His death and Resurrection, we are restored to both God and others in our lives when we are freed to be who we truly are, when we are freed to live the lives that God has called us to live.
If we are true believers and disciples of the Lord, then let us lay down our cloaks before Him every day and welcome Him into our midst with songs of praise as our true King and Savior. Then, and only then will we find real freedom and peace.
Amen.